I am in the same boat as you are Bear. My pair of 4850s are getting a little old, but I am choosing to wait for the 6970 instead of the 6870. Here is my reasoning:
1.) 6870 is about equal to a 5850, which in turn is about equal to a pair of 4850s.
2.) A single 6870s would be a very small upgrade, and a pair (definate upgrade) would run ~$500.
3.) I am betting the 6970 will be a beast and be priced ~$400-450 mark.

I figure I will grab one of those, then grab another around Christmas/New Years for a HUGE upgrade.

What do you guys think? Sound logical, or should I just say screw it and grab a pair of 6870s today? (Oh and BTW, I do not like selling my used cards, so don't suggest that. Don't ask why, but I just hate getting rid of my tech toys.)

I am in the same boat as you are Bear. My pair of 4850s are getting a little old, but I am choosing to wait for the 6970 instead of the 6870. Here is my reasoning:
1.) 6870 is about equal to a 5850, which in turn is about equal to a pair of 4850s.
2.) A single 6870s would be a very small upgrade, and a pair (definate upgrade) would run ~$500.
3.) I am betting the 6970 will be a beast and be priced ~$400-450 mark.

I figure I will grab one of those, then grab another around Christmas/New Years for a HUGE upgrade.

What do you guys think? Sound logical, or should I just say screw it and grab a pair of 6870s today? (Oh and BTW, I do not like selling my used cards, so don't suggest that. Don't ask why, but I just hate getting rid of my tech toys.)

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Well i just finished ordering a pair of them along with 4tb more storage and 2 more monitors
I took the easy way out, i used a buy now pay in 9 months offer so if the 6970 is way more powerful than overclocked 6870 crossfire i will have the cash to buy one but this is mainly as i just could not wait any longer.
I have had the itch to upgrade my gpu for over a year now so i just could not take it anymore if you have some self control i would say wait, if you don't like the idea of selling off your old hardware you will probably be much better off getting a 6970 and if you want to another later on.

I say crossfire 6850 is the best bang for the buck on large displays and multi-monitor. Scaling is good, and should only get better, the overclocks put it almost 10% ahead of a overclocked 460, the power consumption is good, the tessellation is good.

Good move ATI, wait AMD. Mature the chip before a move, more performance per watt, per size and per dollar.

i hope not tatty as i had xfire3870s before this and so long as i forced AFR on with ati tray tools i got 1.8x fps on everything except dirt orig and i think fear which didnt like it up em lol iid be happy with 1.8x any single card with 2 as im hopein with dual 5870s or 7970s some day

sorry of top a bit but anyone with a lowly 5870 tried the cat 10.10 driver i cant get it to install right ive manually installed driver, catalysts updated hdmi is now but app parts none other bits n bobs none just failed to install logs and now im caught in the hype and 4 days from payday anyone tried a 6870 with a 5870 yet either way round